Extra Room In Your Luggage? How To Give Back Plus 31 Days of Giveaways – Day 4
At the end of the year I look back and try to appreciate and give thanks for everything that I have. Getting to spend time with family and friends is more important than any of the stuff I have in my home (although I am grateful for that, too).
Over the years I’d occasionally hear a traveler mention how they brought supplies to those less fortunate while traveling overseas, and I came across an interesting company that makes it easy to give back.
Pack with a Purpose lets you select a location and resort, and gives you detailed information on what to bring. Then when staying at the property you simply drop off the goods at their collection area which the front desk staff can point you in the direction of.
There are a ton of properties in Africa as I figured. There are also many in locations that you may not think about as needing supplies. When I say supplies, the items vary from colored pencils and chalk to deflated soccer balls (to make transporting them easier) and Band-Aids.
Here are just a handful of participating locations from the master list –
The Westin Puntacana Resort & Club in the Dominican Republic
The Ritz-Carlton in Istanbul
Sandals Emerald Bay in the Bahamas
Richard Branson’s Necker Island resort in the British Virgin Islands is one of the participating properties too. Fellow blogger Frequent Miler has been earning points like mad to redeem for a stay at this over-the-top luxury property, which I can’t wait to read about.
Bookmark this page and take a quick look at the full list of properties before taking a trip, to see if you can stash some much needed supplies in your bag.
To enter Magic of Miles’ contest today for a box full of goodies, leave a comment on this post about something you’ve given away or something you’d like to. For full contest details, click here.
Thanks for entering, and for reading!
I have enjoyed giving food and clothing to a local community center!
I take the toiletries from hotels and ask for extra tooth brush’s and tooth paste at the desk and donate to organizations that pass them in to people in need
My wife is a dog rescue fanatic advocate whatever you call it. She wants to save them all. For our honeymoon last year she volunteered one entire day to work at a dog rescue in Thailand. We scooped poop, cared for flea infested dogs and rescued 3 puppies some jerk threw in a rice bag by the driveway. We donated lots of money and supplies. Happy wife happy life
Having 3 kids 3 and under, I carry a diaper bag more than I carry a purse, so I gave away most of my gently used handbags to our local thrift shop.
I help all kinds of people in my community to live better lives.
I try to have a snack on hand to give to anyone hungry. I give my time to help single parent children.
I donate all of my used clothing that I no longer wear, as well as money.
I am a semi-retired teacher who loves to travel abroad, especially to parts of the developing world. I have donated thousands of pens in many countries. When I informally visited schools, I always asked if I could meet students and directly give them pens. That seems to work better than just giving a school 500 pens. It is always a delight to do this.
i gave my car to someone since I was going abroad to Vanuatu for peace corps
I donate clothing when I can. I also researched a local charity that takes in prom dresses and gave my prom dress away. It’s worth it if it gives another young girl a chance to be beautiful on prom day! 🙂
I enjoy donating to charities, both money or things, depending on the charity. However, since my husband started working for a non-profit his company is the charity we donate to the most. Tomorrow is our town’s annual food donation day so I am going to the store tomorrow to buy some food for that.
I have always given away and helped those that are less fortuate. I have been where they are plenty of times so i understand. giving comes from the heart. I have done so many times but this is my recent one. I have adopted a whole family for christmas. I am getting gifts for their whole family..it feels so good to do so
Clothes…it amazes me how easy it is to donate clothes to a local Goodwill, shelter, or other charity, yet many people just throw clothes out.
Donate both time (working in the summer to take disabled kids sailing) and money, most $ goes toward animal causes. I’ve given homeless people my lunch many times. Be happy for what you have and share with others!
I donate money frequently to various charitable organizations.
We donate clothes and money to local charities.
I’ve given away my time, money, baby and kids items, and clothes.
Time
Back when I was still in college my then-girlfriend-now-wife used to collect these coupons from Sunday newspapers, and when there was a double/triple coupon promotion at Kroger’s we’d go there and get carts of stuff for cheap, whether we needed those items or not (mostly not). After a while our apartment got so full of these almost-free stuff so we gave them to the nearest Goodwill or Salvation Army. Rinse, lather, repeat.
Lots and lots of time. Also, amenity kits make a perfect holiday donation to a homeless shelter or day center. The clients really like having a kit of their own, and the supplies inside are a welcome bonus.
On a couple of Europe trips I have combined altruism with my light-packing scheme to good results. I take along two or three changes of clothing that are close to the point where I would donate them to charity in the U.S. but would be fine for wearing one more time on a casual day during the trip. After a few days of using those items I gathered them and donated to charity through the hotel or a church at my destination. The byproduct: more room in my already small luggage or pack to fill with souvenirs. Or if not, a lighter load to carry around for the rest of the trip.
I like to donate to local charities throughout the year and always donate clothes to shelters
I volunteer my time with house repair with a local organization. We fix houses and yards of people with limited means in the community.
Donated books to our sponsor orphanage in Kenya!
I like to volunteer my time doing health screenings in my community.
I donate money, clothes and volunteer hours in our community. I’ve been intrigued by Pack with a Purpose but my recent destinations don’t align with theirs. Hopefully in the future.
My son takes cans to school for our local food pantry every Thursday. It’s great to involve the family in giving at an early age. I love the idea of packing to give on a trip!
We like to donate our time…especially during the holiday season prepping meals, etc.
I’ve donated miles before
I try to bring children’s books, clothing, backpacks, and many other items, every time I travel. If you can’t find the PackforAPurpose drop box, you can simply ask your hotel, taxi driver, maid, tour guide, librarian, or anybody else if they could please bring the books to the school of their choice. I recently tried to search out a PackforaPurpose drop box in Peru. No luck– so I handed my school supplies to the guide and the hotel check in gal. They were pleased, and can easily get these somewhere where of use. This was about 50 grammar school books, that had been donated to me by a local thrift store when I told them what I needed. They all fit in my only piece of luggage, a rollaboard carry on, and in my travel partner’s roll on, too. After we donated, we had plenty of room in our carry-ons for nice Peruvian alpaca sweaters to bring home as souvenirs.
I’ve given away money and, more importantly, time – something we all have and can easily spend on others.
I try to make sure toiletries are represented whenever I’m participating in a drive. It’s easy to forget about stuff like toilet paper and menstrual supplies because they’re not “fun” but they’re really needed.
I’m a sucker for animal charities and have given more money than I’d like to admit to. Every year I also load up the cart at pet stores and drop off at a shelter.
PS i often give away my lunch at work because my coworkers seem like they need it more than me. They often ask me if they could have some so now I bring extra food
I’ve given away $, free meals, and brand new clothes and points/miles to non family members. I’m not well off but I do feel the need to help others.
As a mom I have enjoyed giving and receiving gently used kids clothes & toys since they go through them so quickly & often have a lot more life in them. Giving/swapping/bartering are becoming more popular and more viable options today through apps such as Yerdle.